Drag-and-drop is an intuitive way to transfer data between applications on a computing device. The drag-and-drop feature of object linking and embedding (OLE) is primarily a shortcut for copying and pasting data. Typically, when an end-user uses the clipboard to copy or paste data, a number of steps are required. The end-user selects the data, clicks cut or copy from the Edit menu, moves to the destination file, window, or application, places the cursor in the desired location, and click Paste from the Edit menu.
When the end-user uses OLE drag and drop, the end-user removes two steps from the process. The end-user selects the data from the source window (the “drop source”), drags it to the desired destination (the “drop target”), and drops the selected data by releasing the mouse button. This operation eliminates the need for menus and is quicker than the copy/paste sequence. The only requirement is that both the drop source and drop target must be open and at least partially visible on the screen.
It would be useful if this drag-and-drop functionality was extended to provide the same type of intuitive data transfer in the remote access environment.